Stater

The stater, as a Greek silver currency, first as ingots, and later as coins, circulated from the 8th century BC to AD 50. The earliest known stamped stater (having the mark of some authority in the form of a picture or words) is an electrum turtle coin, struck at Aegina[http://www.snible.org/coins/bmc/attica/XXIII.jpg Coin images] that dates to about 650 BC.[http://www.snible.org/coins/hn/aegina.html Ancient coinage of Aegina]. snible.org. Retrieved on 2011-02-10. It is on display at the Bibliothèque Nationale in Paris.

According to Robin Lane Fox, the stater as a weight unit was borrowed by the Euboean stater weighing {{convert|16.8|g|ozt}} from the Phoenician shekel, which had about the same weight as a stater ({{convert|7.0|g|ozt|disp=comma|abbr=on}}) and was also one fiftieth of a mina.Lane Fox, Robin. Travelling Heroes: Greeks and Their Myths in the Epic Age of Homer. P. 94. London: Allen Lane, 2008. {{ISBN|978-0-7139-9980-8}}

File:Monnaie de Bactriane, Eucratide I, 2 faces.jpg king Eucratides I ({{Circa|160 BC}}), the largest gold coin ever minted in Antiquity. The coin weighs {{convert|169.2|g|ozt|abbr=on}}, and has a diameter of {{convert|58|mm|in|abbr=on}}.]]

The silver stater minted at CorinthSmith, William. A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities. J. Murray, 1881. of {{convert|8.6|g|ozt|abbr=on}} weight was divided into three silver drachmae of {{convert|2.9|g|ozt|abbr=on}}, but was often linked to the Athenian silver didrachm (two drachmae) weighing {{convert|8.6|g|ozt|abbr=on}}.Catalogue of Greek coins, A. Baldwin, Boston, 1955 In comparison, the Athenian silver tetradrachm (four drachmae) weighed {{convert|17.2|g|ozt|abbr=on}}. Staters were also struck in several Greek city-states such as, Aegina, Aspendos, Delphi, Knossos, Kydonia, many city-states of Ionia, Lampsacus, Megalopolis, Metapontium, Olympia, Phaistos, Poseidonia, Syracuse, Taras, Thasos, Thebes and more.

There also existed a "gold stater", but it was only minted in some places, and was mainly an accounting unit worth 20–28 drachmae depending on place and time, the Athenian unit being worth 20 drachmae. (The reason being that one gold stater generally weighed roughly {{convert|8.5|g|ozt|abbr=on}}, twice as much as a drachma, while the parity of gold to silver, after some variance, was established as 1:10). The use of gold staters in coinage seems mostly of Macedonian origin. The best known types of Greek gold staters are the 28-drachma kyzikenoi from Cyzicus.

File:Celtic billon stater Armorican tribe.jpg found in Armorica]]

Celtic tribes brought the concept to Western and Central Europe after obtaining it while serving as mercenaries in north Greece.{{cite book|last=De Jersey|first=Philip|date=1996|title=Celtic Coinage in Britain|publisher=Shire Publications|pages=1–2|isbn=0-7478-0325-0}} Gold staters were minted in Gaul by Gallic chiefs modeled after the philippeioi of Philip II of Macedonia, which were brought back after serving in his armies, or those of his son Alexander the Great and his successors. Some of these staters in the form of the Gallo-Belgic series were imported to Britain on a large scale.{{cite book|last=De Jersey|first=Philip|date=1996|title=Celtic Coinage in Britain|publisher=Shire Publications|pages=15–19|isbn=0-7478-0325-0}} These went on to influence a range of staters produced in Britain.{{cite book|last=De Jersey|first=Philip|date=1996|title=Celtic Coinage in Britain|publisher=Shire Publications|pages=20–26|isbn=0-7478-0325-0}} British Gold staters generally weighed between {{convert|4.5|and(-)|6.5|g|ozt}}.{{cite thesis|last=Bean|first=Simon C|date=1994|title=The coinage of Atrebates and Regni|type=Ph.D.|chapter=Methodology|pages=17–18|publisher=University of Nottingham.|url=http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/11944/1/262143.pdf|access-date=14 July 2016}}

Celtic staters were also minted in present-day Czech Republic and Poland.{{cite book|title=Systemy pieniężne na ziemiach polskich|publisher=Zakład Narodowy Im. Ossolińskich, PAN|author=Żabiński, Zbigniew|author-link=Zbigniew Żabiński|year=1981|pages=22|isbn=83-04-00569-7}} The conquests of Alexander extended Greek culture east, leading to the adoption of staters in Asia. Gold staters have also been found from the ancient region of Gandhara from the time of Kanishka.{{Cite book|title=Coins in India|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UUdmAAAAMAAJ|publisher=Marg Publications|author=Prabha Ray Himanshu|isbn=978-81-85026-73-2|date=2006-06-01}}

In 2018, archaeologists in Podzemelj, Slovenia unearthed fifteen graves at the Pezdirčeva Njiva site. In one of the graves they found a bronze belt with a gold coin.

The coin was a Celtic imitation of the Alexander the Great stater, depicting Nike and Athena, and dates back to the first half of the 3rd century B.C.[http://www.rtvslo.si/news-in-english/a-significant-find-at-pezdirceva-njiva-a-gold-coin-from-the-3rd-century-b-c/473824 A significant find at Pezdirčeva Njiva: A gold coin from the 3rd century B. C.]

File:BMC 06.jpg|Early 6th-century BC Lydian electrum coin denominated as {{1/3}} stater

File:Ravel 1008.2.jpg|Corinthian stater. Obverse: Pegasus with Qoppa (Ϙ) beneath. Reverse: Athena wearing Corinthian helmet. Qoppa symbolised the archaic spelling of the city (Ϙόρινθος).

File:Στατήρ Δύο Όψεις.JPG|Gold stater of Alexander the Great. Obverse: Athena wearing Corinthian helmet. Reverse: Nike holding stylis and wreath. Possibly minted in Abydos {{circa}} 328–323 BC.

File:AR nomos of Velia.jpg|Stater struck in Velia 334–300 BC, Athena wearing a Phrygian helmet decorated with a Centaur, Lion devouring prey

File:Silver stater of Mithrapata of Lycia (c. 390–370 BC).jpg|Silver stater of Mithrapata of Lycia, {{circa}} 390–370 BC

File:Iron_Age_Coin,_Stater_of_the_Corieltauvi_(FindID_622777).jpg|Gold stater of the Corieltauvi, 50−20 BC

File:Channel Islands Armorican Billon Stater about 75 BC, obverse.jpg|Channel Islands Armorican Billon Silver Stater about 75 BC, obverse, head r.

File:Channel Islands Armorican Billon Stater about 75 BC, reverse.jpg|The reverse showing a stylised horse r., and a comet below

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• Coson
• Egyptian gold stater
• Silver stater with a turtle
• Esunertos

{{Reflist}}

• {{Wiktionary-inline}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070927194838/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/cm/e/electrum_1/6_stater.aspx The British Museum- Electrum 1/6 stater (650–600 BCE)]
• {{cite web|url=http://www.artabase.net/exhibition/2642-ancient-coins-heads-and-tales-from-antique-lands|title=Ancient coins: heads and tales from antique lands – Silver stater with Pegasus and head of Athena wearing a Corinthian helmet, Akarnania, (Akarnanian Confederacy) c. 250–167 BCE, Thyrreion mint|website=Artabase|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110418011833/http://www.artabase.net/exhibition/2642-ancient-coins-heads-and-tales-from-antique-lands|archive-date=Apr 18, 2011}}
• [https://goldadvert.com/knowledgebase/en/stater/ Stater coins (review article)]

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Category:Coins

Category:Numismatics

Category:Coins of ancient Greece